A colourful pathway, cartoon sheep and woollen shoes were just some of the stars at this year’s edition of the Best Awards. It was another reminder of the talented designers working across virtually every industry in New Zealand.
The event was organised by the Designers Institute of New Zealand and recognised the strongest work produced in eight categories – spatial, product, graphic, moving image, interactive, best effect, public good and the Nga Aho Award, a category showcasing multi-cultural design collaboration.
Designers Institute CEO, Cathy Veninga said the calibre of entries was as strong as always for the awards, which took place at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre last Friday. “The Best Design Awards celebrate not just the designers but their clients who have used design to achieve better outcomes for their businesses, their products, and the end users,” she said. “Our design studios keep pushing boundaries with their eye for craft, ideas and innovation.”
Without further ado, here’s a look at the winners.
THE SUPREME WINNERS
Best Effect Award Purple Pin – A24 automatic trap and lure by Goodnature
Design team: Robert Van Dam, Craig Bond, Stu Barr, Chris Dwan, Hiroshi Tokunaga, Grace Paske, Jadon McConnell.
After eight years of sustained pest control in 500 hectares of Te Urewera Forest, the Department of Conservation (DOC) knew that efforts had to remain constant if native bird numbers were to continue to increase. The main problem was that it was incredibly costly to send people into the bush to keep resetting the traps. To help fix this, design studio Goodnature teamed up with DOC to create the A24 self-resetting trap and Automatic Lure Pump (ALP). Pests are lured into the trap by a long-life bait lure. Once they go inside, a CO2 canister-powered hammer hits the animals, who are then left to be scavenged by birds of prey.
The automatic lure pump is innovative because it is toxin-free (no 1080 in it at all), saves labour, and cuts trapping costs by 90 percent.
Public Good Award Purple Pin – Game of Awesome by Chrometoaster
Design director: Aaron McKirdy, Creative director: Dave Turnbull Contributors: Robert Whittaker, Gavin Mouldey, Morgan Davie.
Game of Awesome is an educational card game designed to inspire years 5 to 8 students to write creative stories and increase their literacy levels. The game presents undefined pieces of a story such as “crisis”, “evil scientist” or “the pyramids”, and then challenges players to choose inventive ideas from their hand of cards, which become the building blocks of stories. Winning the game involves using card combinations in the most entertaining way, by stringing disparate ideas together into a single cohesive story. Published as Creative Commons by the Ministry of Education, the game is distributed free to schools.
Graphics Purple Pin – POP Marble Run by Alt Group
Creative director: Dean Poole. Design team: Dean Murray, Aaron Edwards, Adam Ben-Dror, Clark Bardsley.
An eight-metre-long double-sided steel wall activated through a network of magnetic parts which can be configured to build custom marble runs by each participant, POP Marble Run is part interactive innovation, part piece of art. The wall plays a spectrum of unique sounds through a speaker system built into the wall, with different sounds playing as a marble drops from one section to the next. The end result is a large participatory musical instrument activated by visitors.
Interactive Purple Pin – Kōkako Language tracking application by Salted Herring
Design director: Pep Zuijderwijk. Design team: Ryan Shields, Roberto Uribe, Simon Winter.
Kōkako is a web application developed to measure the usage of Māori language across New Zealand radio. An automated system that continuously listens to broadcasts, tracking spoken language use, Kōkako eliminates the need for continuous manual listening. Reporting is available in close to real time, allowing broadcasters or stakeholders to follow activity on their networks. Kōkako can also be trained to recognise any language or dialect with reporting, customised for specific communities or agencies.
Product Purple Pin – Allbirds Wool Runners by Jamie McLellan Ltd and Tim Brown
Creative directors: Tim Brown, Jamie McLellan. Design team: Joey Zwillinger, Drew Morgan, Michael Jo, Simon Endres, Scott Chapps. Andy Jacobs.
Sheep are about as iconic as, well, anything in Aotearoa. After all, there’s more than six times as many of them as there are people. That’s a lot of wool any way you look at it – and it’s what Allbirds’ shoes are made from. Sustainable, moisture wicking, anti-bacterial and extremely comfortable, the Wool Runner is billed as the “world’s softest shoe.” Wool Runners have found wide success in both North America and New Zealand, and have gained something of a cult following. In the words of the judging panel: “This product is distinctly New Zealand while being truly global.”
Moving image Purple Pin – The Innovator by Buck
Design director: Lucas Brooking. Creative director: Gareth O’Brien.
The Innovator from Buck on Vimeo.
Design studio Buck was tasked with creating an animated film to remind the audience of wool’s versatility and benefits. This entertaining film, titled The Innovator (after one of the main characters), journeys through the ages showing how wool has been used and continues to clothe our society in everyday life. The story takes the viewer from the Stone Age to the 17th century through to today to witness the innovative uses of wool.
Nga Aho Award Purple Pin – Te Oro by Archimedia
Design director: Lindsay Mackie. Design team: Bernard Makoare, Martin Leung-Wai, Petelo Esekielu, David Thomas, David Fullbrook, Debbie Tikao, Karl Dawe, Russell Pinel, John Pollard.
Te Oro is a creative facility for young people from the communities of Glen Innes and Panmure in Auckland. It takes its name from the traditional word for the sound created by wind blowing across the open crater of Maungarei. Te Oro emerged from the community itself, supported and funded by Auckland Council. The design process was open and collaborative, involving local artists, cultural advisors, mana whenua, environmental and landscape specialists. The architecture resonates with traditional south-west Pacific buildings, featuring an open space with a crafted superstructure suspended above, supported by timber columns. The 1485-square-metre building has 256 PV panels on the roof, rainwater harvesting, above-code insulation, double glazing, heat pumps, and LED lighting. Translation: it’s both pretty and green.
Spatial Purple Pin – #LightPathAKL by Monk Mackenzie Architects
Design director: Dean Mackenzie. Creative directors: Hamish Monk, Henry Crothers.
#LightPathAKL was initiated when a study identified the potential for an unused former highway off-ramp to be repurposed to form the western route of an inner city cycleway. The former asphalt highway was given a vivid provocative pink resin and aggregate surfacing – and in the process became one of the best-known landmarks (and certainly most brightly-coloured) in Auckland. Three hundred LED custom light boxes were placed along the eastern edge of the cycleway to create a light spine. These are fully programmable and contain sensors to form a digital infrastructure, which will allow future artists to create an almost infinite array of new designs and patterns. The judges said Lightpath was “an incredible addition to the city… It was technologically resolved allowing the user to be totally immersed in the space.”
The Designers Institute Black Pin – Ben Corban of Alt Group
The Designers Institutes Black Pin for Outstanding Achievement is awarded to a member of the Institute who has made a lasting and valuable contribution to the New Zealand design profession and towards design in general. This year’s Black Pin was awarded to Ben Corban, managing director of Alt Group, for his passionate advocacy of the design community to enable the wider community to appreciate and gain a deeper understanding of design. Ben and fellow director Dean Poole, both graduates of Elam School of Arts, combine their creative skills, fresh ideas and design strategy to provide design solutions for some of New Zealand’s top companies and arts institutions. While providing strategic and creative thinking to help clients achieve success in their businesses, Ben has provided leadership and his considerable business acumen to help build Alt Group into one of New Zealand’s most successful design companies. He has always taken time to nurture and encourage the young designers who have come through the studio doors, and also ensures that Alt Group is a strong supporter of the Designers Institute. Ben is also a generous participant in the wider arts community and is chair of the board of Ponsonby Gallery Objectspace.
GOLD PIN WINNERS
Environmental Graphics
POP Marble Run – Alt Group
Ngā Aho
Te Oro – Archimedia
Long Form
The Innovator – Buck
Blend – Opening Titles – Buck
Applications
Kōkako – Language tracking – Salted Herring
Best Effect
Goodnature/Department of Conservation. A24 & Automatic Lure Pump
Business Communication
Home Book – Alt Group
At Your Request Communications – Studio South
Design Communication
Silo Theatre 2016 – Alt Group
IAPA 2015: Cities in a Climate of Change – Index
Manaia Campaign – Osborne Shiwan
Design Craft – Photography
Lumojo Photography – Alt Group
Editorial and Books
Habits Form Habitats – Alt Group
From Certainty to Doubt – AREA Design
Packaging – Boutique
Lumojo – Alt Group
Serious Popcorn – DDMMYY
Structural Packaging
Lumojo Honey Pot – Alt Group
The True Honey Co – Marx Design
Public & Institutional Built – Up to $3 million
Cathedral Grammar School Junior School – Andrew Barrie Lab
Longbush Ecosanctuary Welcome Shelter – Sarosh Mulla Design
Interactive
Verizon – Better Matters – Assembly
Hospitality – Food and Beverage
G9 Shanghai – Atelier I-N-D-J
Oaken – Cheshire Architects
Beirut – Cheshire Architects
Saan – Cheshire Architects
Molenberg | Sandwich Shop – Special Group
Consumer
Avanti Pista Pursuit Team – Avanti Design Technology
Avanti Pista Team Olympic Edition – Avanti Design Technology
Wool Runners – Jamie McLellan Ltd.
Retail – Up to 150 square metres
E. Von Dadelszen (Duplicate) – Cheshire Architects
Lonely Wellington
Applications
A Dog’s Story – Colenso BBDO
Repurposed Spaces
The Glass Goose – ctrl Space ltd
Faraday Street Studio – Fearon Hay Architects
Small Brand Identity – Cultural
Bowerbank Ninow Identity – DDMMYY
Basement Theatre – Studio Alexander
Self Promotion
Designworks Honey Gift – Designworks
Office & Workplace – Between 200 and 1000 square metres
Faraday Street Studio – Fearon Hay Architects
Non-Consumer
Ag Oxijet – Felton Industries Limited
Surgical Pin Pullers – Enztec
R6R Rescue Helmet – Pacific Helmets (NZ) LTD
Colour Award
Nice Blocks – Summer on a stick (Duplicate) – Fuman
#LightPathAKL – Monk Mackenzie Architects and LandLAB
Exhibition & Temporary Structures
Future Islands: New Zealand Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 – Future Islands
POP Marble Run – Alt Group
Large Scale Websites
Highline: America’s Most Admired Lawbreaker – Gladeye
Zero Landfill – Resn
Retail – Over 150 square metres
M11 Studio – Hare Interiors
Caro’s Grey Lynn – peddlethorp
Furniture
KXN – IMO Group Ltd
Public & Institutional Outdoor – $200,000 to $2 million
Porirua CBD – Isthmus Group
Sustainable Product Design
Wool Runners – Jamie McLellan Ltd.
Public Good
#LightPathAKL – Monk Mackenzie Architects and LandLAB
Snapped Out – Richards Partners
Karma Cola Foundation – Karma Cola
Game of Awesome – Chrometoaster
Public & Institutional Outdoor – Over $2 million
#LightPathAKL – Monk Mackenzie Architects and LandLAB
Pukeahu National War Memorial Park – Wraight Athfield Landscape + Architecture
Large Brand Identity – Cultural
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – Osborne Shiwan
20th Biennale of Sydney – For The People
Residential Architecture
Westmere House – Ponting Fitzgerald Ltd
Bethells Bach – Herbst Architects
Forest House – Fearon Hay Architects
Emerging Designer
Longbush Ecosanctuary Welcome Shelter – Sarosh Mulla Design
Hospitality – Accommodation
Sofitel Wellington Interiors – Space Studio Ltd.
Environmental Graphics
NZIA Local Architecture Awards Display Stand (Duplicate) – Studio Catherine Griffiths
Office & Workplace – Over 1000 square metres
Forsyth Barr – Warren and Mahoney Architects
Heartland Bank – Warren and Mahoney Architects
The APL Factory – “Lifting the Veil” – Jasmax
Large Brand Identity – Commercial
The International – Studio South
At Your Request – Studio South
Residential Interiors
Brooklyn Townhouse – Architecture + Interior Design
Lighting
Navicula Light – David Trubridge
Packaging – FMCG
Loving Earth – Round
Short Form
Cadbury & Oreo – Buck
Design Craft – Illustration
Harvard Business Review – Garbett
Small Fleet Campaign – Creature
Small Brand Identity – Commercial
The Practical Man Identity – Garbett
Healthcare – Up to $3 million
Chrysalis Early Learning Centre – Collingridge and Smith Architects UK Ltd
Small Scale Websites
Ben Pearce – Grafik
Resn – Resn
Interactive Marketing
Verizon – Better Matters – Assembly
McWhopper – Resn
2015: The Year In Product Design – Atomic
- This story originally appeared on Idealog.
